I was a professional photographer for 23 years and have a degree in Photography/Multi-media.

Some of my former employers include: United Press International, General Dynamics and The U.S. Navy.

If I had an opportunity to shoot a spread for some magazine like National Geographic just for the photo credits, I'd sure as heck would jump on it. (not that wakesurfer magazine is in the same catagory as NG, but you get the point).

I am offering a great opportunity for someone just getting into the biz - like a student.

And....at future local events, I personally would donate my time as a shooter to this magazine just to help it get started.

All I know is that once a company gets a photograph for free it's hard to ever get a dime out of them and magazines are the worst at this. Photo rates in the industry have gone down considerably in the last 10 years and will continue to do so as long as there are people with 20D's willing to give their pictures away.

GO to ANY photo website and ask them what they think about the idea. No good can come out of giving Wakesurfing Magazine pictures for free (nor will any doors open up)and by doing so "said" photographer would be setting a precendent for WM that they can continue the same practices in the future.

My client list isn't nearly impressive as yours but I have been published in every snowboard and ski publication in Northern America and have done work for just about every major manufacturer in snowboarding.

I won't step into the middle of the photo credit discussion, but I would like to bring attention to the one aspect that Ed brought up. The American Wakesurfing Association is a Tax Exempt Organization under IRC Sec. 501(c)(7) as a recreational club promoting the sport of wakesurfing. As such none of the money raised inures to the benefit of any member. We live and die by the generosity of members, manufacturers and service providers (like both Ed and Sean). So while pro bono services from a professional photographer may do NOTHING for that profession or professional it is the life's blood of the American Wakesurfing Association. Furthermore, additional coverage and exposure can do NOTHING but assist in raising the awareness level of our sport and generate more participation.

One last thing before I step down from my soapbox I want to extend my gratitude to BOTH Ed and Sean for their donation of time and expertise to promoting awareness for our sport.

its cool that thre is a wakesurfing magazine, but man they need some help! the cover looks like it was designed in ms paint. sorry i'm a designer, so bad design is a pet peeve of mine. i should contact them and offer up my services

I fully understand both sides of the argument and as you know I have no problem donating my time to the sport and the AWA but in my eyes there is a big difference between donating to a nonprofit organization and a for profit magazine. That is of course unless they're offering free advertising.

Sean, you're a great supporter. Tell me something...this new Wakesurfing Mag is making a good run for a first effort and something we need since the demise of the WakeSufer rag is a sport specific rag.

I look at Wakeboarding Magazine and they won't give us the time of day. I referenced an Enzo picture in their gear guide and they have a 2 page pic, I think, of Jamie Lovett HOLDING THE ROPE!!!!!!!!!!!! That's not wakesurfing. When you consider that they used to put a separate section on wakeskating in their rag, that almost felt like a slap in the face.

Let's not beat up on a source that is TRYING to support us, beat up on the folks that CAN support and won't.

I find it very interesting (err, ridiculous) that I've sent you an email as to what happened to your post, yet you still want to call me out on my own discussion board and make lame accusations about censorship! I'm sorry if there is something wrong with your email and you're not receiving it, but I really don't appreciate this kind of response.

By the way, your post was moved to the Industry Jobs section, where it belongs. No conspiracy. Sorry to disappoint!

Hey Ed, I suspected the same thing and shot you an email at the office, are you at home perhaps? Considering it's 7'ish your time.

Dave, just an FYI I had the same thing happen, had a post moved to an events forum, where it really belonged, I thought I had lost my mind, I remembered posting it, but couldn't find it (I do that with my glasses too - I know I put them around here somewhere )... and 'cross my heart hope to die, stick a needle in my eye' I never got an info email from WW either, any chance that the email notice isn't going out? Of course, I may have hacked it too, knowing my skills with email.

Like I said, I'm sorry you didn't get the email, but if you have filtering issues on your end, I can't do much about it. I replied to the email you sent me. Either way, I don't appreciate being accused of crap in front of the world just because you can't get your email issues straightened out.

Jeff, we don't automatically send an email out when we move a thread or we'd be spending double the amount of time we spend on admin. Most people, as in your case, figure it out or shoot me an email if they have a question. This is the first problem we've had with somebody not being able to figure it out, not being about to do a search, not having their AOL spam filters working in their favor and then deciding to lash out.

Ed, I know someone who would love to shoot the clinic. She already has experience shooting Jeff and James. Problem is she is in LA not Florida. She photographs because she loves it. I always thought that the government was the only one who could censor something. Businesses can "censor" something because it is their business. Dennis